Bath-cabinet.



Patented May 23, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

BATH CABINET.

.l I I AllI HIIII I1 A. L. GREEH & L. WILOTH.

' APPLICATION FILED IuLY I4. I9I5.

f.- In@ UNITED sTATEs i PATENT oErcE.

ALBERT L. GREER, or nENvEit, AND LEO?y WILOTH, or WRAY, COLORADO.

BATH-CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

Application led July 14, 1915. Serial No. 39,774.

Denver county, Colorado, and Wray, Yuma county, Colorado, respectively,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bath-Cabinets, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to bath cabinets, particularly to those in whichpatients are submitted to heating and sweating and to medicated vapors.There are quite a few of such bath cabinets on the market but they areall more or less ineliicient and uncomfortable for the patient, and aremore or l less open in their operation so that the patient is sickenedby inhaling burned gases or vitiated air.

The object of our invention is to produce a more sanitary and morecomfortable cabinet and to provide for more rapidly, uniformly andeconomically heating the cabinet and for more efliciently, andv withgreater comfort to the patient, introducing medicated vapors. In ourarrangement everything is inclosed so that there, is no chance forescape of disagreeable odors or gases.

Our invention will be clearly understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings in which# Figure 1 is an elevational view insection on a vertical, longitudinal median plane, Fig. 2 is a sectionalkview onplane 2-v-2, Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional View on plane 3 3,Fig. 1, andFig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on plane 4-4, Fig; 3.

The cabinet body structure is in the form Y of a rectangular box 10mounted on legs 11. At the lower end of the box sides arethe boards 12,and above these boards is a re-4 .movable tray or stretcher 13 formed oflongitudinal slats 14 secured to,l cross strips 15 which rest on theboards 12 when the tray or stretcher is within the boX.` 'The uppersurface of the tray is transversely concaved in order-to make it morecomfortable for the patient who lies thereon. At one side of the box thesection 16 above the tray is hinged as indicated inorder to be swungopen, and isl held inclosed position by suitable hooks 17. 'A coverC-incloses the top of the box and is hinged thereto along onelongitudinal edge, as indicated at 18, a strap 19` being .provided tohold the cover in open position. The roof 20 of the cover is preferablyvdome-shaped or convexed in order to prevent dripping of condensation onthe patient and to cause the collected moisture Y,to flow downwardlyalong the sides of the roof and along the sides ofthe box to thecollecting tray 21 forming the bottom of the box. One end of the boX hasa slot 22 kfor receivingthe patients neck, and a head board 23 is hingedadjacent the lower edge of the slotl and nas .padding 24 for thepatients head. A strut .25 hinged to the box end coperates with the rack26 on the lower side of the head rest- 23 for holding `such rest in anyadjusted angular position. Before the patient is placed in the cabinetthis head rest can be swung upwardly against the box end to close theneck opening 22, thus to keep the cabinet closed while it is beingheated. On the cover end wall 27 above the neck opening a horizontal bar28 is suspended in suitable brackets 29 and from this bar a viexiblecurtain 30 is suspended and has the notch 31 for yitting about thepatients neck to thoroughly seal the neck opening when the patient iswithin the cabinet.

Describing now the apparatus for charging heat and medicated vapor intothe cabinet, a boiler structure B is mounted at one endr of the box on across frame 32 secured to the supporting legs11. The boiler structureshown is cylindrical and by a partition 33 is divided into upper andlower compartments of, and b.` The top`34 has the inlet opening 35through which suitable materials, as for example sulfur, may be chargedinto compartment a, the opening Lbeing provided with a cap 36. We usesteam for heating fthe cabinetpand for heatingthe medicinal materialsand for carrying the vapors into thek cabinet. A steam pipe 37 connectedkwith any suitable outside source communicates with the lowercompartment b and is controlled by a valve 38. The steam enterscompartment Z7 and heats the upper compartment a and they materialstherein. From .compartment o piping 39 leads into the bottom ofthecabinety below the tray or stretcher structure 13, and this pipingtravels back andforth in Fig. 3, andeventually leads into thecompartment a with its end 39".,lea'ding. close to kthe bottom 33 ofsuch compartment. From the upper end of compartment a a vaas. indicatednet below the patient supporting stretcher, this pipe being closed atits end and having escape apertures 41.

lVhen the cabinet is to be used, the desired medicinal material ischarged in the compartment av and the steam is then turned on and fillscompartment b and also flows through piping 39 back and forth throughthe cabinet and then to the bottom of compartment a. Compartment a. isheatedl from the steam in compartment Z) and the steam blowing? intocompartment a from the pipe end39, the medicinal material is agitatedand commingled with the steam and carried with the hot steam into thedistributing pipe 40 and through the apertures41- into the cabinet. .Byopening the cover and side 16 of the cabinet the patient can be veryreadily placedin the cabinet and then when the cabinet is closed he willbe subjected tothe heat from the steam coils and will soon freelyperspire and the open pores will then be exposed to the medical vaporsblown into the cabinet through apertures 41. As the boiler mechanism isentirely inclosed and as the cabinet is also thoroughly sealed aroundthe patients neck, there is no chance for obnoxious gases n to escapeinto the roomto slcken the patient.

Also by having thesteam pipes pass back and forth the patient will beuniformly heated and with much greater comfort. Also to off-set theresistance of the pipe 40 and to prevent excessive heat at the patientsfeet, the apertures 41 gradually increase in size to thevinner end ofthe pipe 40, this causing a uniform distribution of hot vapor-ladensteam. The semi-cylindrical roof of the cabinet will prevent drippingofcondensed steam on the patient and will cause such condensed moisture toflow laterally and downwardly along the sides of the cabinet to thebottom tray 21 from whence it can escape through the vent opening 42.

' We have shown another pipe 43 extending into ythe compartment athrough the bottom wall 33 thereof, and provided with a valve 44. Thispipe can be used as acleaning pipe for removing the contents of thecompartment a, or this pipe could be connected for receiving steam tosubject the patient to only a medicated steam bath. In this event thesteam valve 38 will bek closed to disconnect the steam from the heatingpiping 39, and the steam blowing into thebottom of compartment a throughthe pipe 43 would stir up the medicated contents and would carry thevapor with it to the distributingpipe 40.

It is desirable to provide means for draining the steam piping 39. Afteran operation the pipes cool and the steam therein will condense, andunless prevented, the water of condensation would flow into thecompartment b. We, however, insert in the piping 39 adjacent compartment'b a drainvalve fitting V and this may-'beef ordinary construction. Asshown, the valve plug 50 has the diametral passageway 51 from whichextends the radial drain passageway 52. Any ksuitable means, (not shown)may be provided for turning the valve plug preferably from the exteriorof the cabinet. Vith the valve in the position shown in Fig. 3, thepiping 39 is connected with compartment I) and steam may flow thereto.However, after an 4operation of the cabinet the valve 7,5 plug is turnedclockwise degrees to disconnect the piping' from the compartment and toconnect the piping with the drain outlet 52. Water accumulated in thepipes will then drain therefrom and when the steam is .J turned on anywater remaining in the piping will be blown therefrom. Then, when thepipes have been cleaned the valve is rotated back to the position shownto close the drain passagewayl and to connect the piping with thecompartment It is also desirable to provide a thermometer T to indicatethe temperature within the cabinet. Such thermometer is preferablyplaced to be lobserved by the patient within the cabinet in order 90that he may know the temperature at any time and thus be relieved fromany anxiety.

Ve find that our cabinet is a great improvenient over cabinetsheretofore used for the -same purpose. By using steam we can in a veryfew minutes uniformly and economically heat up the cabinet and treat thepatient. Headaches, which often result during the use of other cabinets,are entirely eliminated as there is no chance for the air 1 5 in theroom to be vitiated by the escaping gas or by consumption of the oxygen,the vapor generating apparatus being entirely inclosed and the cabinetfully sealed. By using steam we can connect any number of 15;; cabinetswith a steam supply pipe and each cabinet is 'ready for instant use'bymerely turning on the particular steam valve. Also by adjusting the Howof steam the treatment of the patient can be controlled to a nicety. 11oBy using steam for heating and boiling the medicinal materials, there isno chance for such materials becoming dry or burning. This accidentfrequently happens where open kettles or utensils are used for boilingthe medicinal materials. Also by the arrangement of the heating pipecoils and the compensating arrangement of the vapor discharge outletsheat and vapor are applied uniformly to the patient and the bath can betaken with the greatest degreefof comfort.

We do not .of course desire to be limited to the exact construction,arrangement and operation disclosedas modifications `are nodoubtpossible which would still come within the scope ofy the invention,and

We claim thefollowing: 1. In a bath cabinet, the combination of aninclosure for receiving a patient, a heating `device for medicatedmaterial, a distributing 'pipe leading from said heating device to saidinclosure, and a steam coil within said inclosure extending into saidheating device to charge steam thereinto.

2. In a bath cabinet, the combination of an inclosure for receiving apatient, a con tainer at the exterior of the inclosure formedicinalmaterial, a distributing pipe leading from said container into saidinclosure, a steam chamber below said container having connection with asteam supply source, and a heating coil within said inclosure connectedat one end with said steam chamber and extending at its other end intosaid container whereby steam is driven into said container to minglewith the material therein and to carry it through said distributing pipeinto said inclosure.

3. In a bath cabinet, the combination of an inclosure for patients, aheating device outside the inclosure divided into an upper and a lowercompartment, said upper compartment being adapted to contain material tobe vaporized, a steam connection With sai-d lower compartment wherebysteam is delivered to said compartment for heating the material in theupper compartment, a steam coil within the inclosure connected with saidlower compartment at one end and extending at its other end into said uper compartment to charge steam thereinto or agitating the materialtherein and to mingle therewith, and a discharge pipe leading from theupper compartment into said inclosure through which the combined steamand vapor nds entrance into said inclosure.

Ll.' In a bath cabinet, the combination of an inclosure for receiving apatient, a heating device for medicated material, a distributing pipeleading from said heating device to said inclosure, a steam coil withinsaid inclosure extending into said heating device, and a drain valveinterposed in said steam coil Daniel of this patent may be obtained forve cents each,

Wnhingtom. c.

adapted to be adjusted to drain water of condensation from said coil.

5. In a bath cabinet, the combination of an inclosure for patients, aheating device outside the inclosure for medicated material adistributing pipe leading from the top of said heating device into saidinclosure, a steam coil kwithin the inclosure having its outlet endextended into said heating device to the bottom thereof to agitate andmingle with the medicated material, and a direct steam connection withsaid heating device for charging steam thereinto independently of saidheating coil.

6. In a bath cabinet, the combination of an inclosure for patients, aheating device outside the inclosure divided into an upper l# and alower compartment, said upper compartment being adapted tocontainfmaterial to be vaporized, a steam connection with said lowercompartment whereby steam isl delivered to said compartment for heatingthe materialv in the upper compartment, a steam coil Within theinclosure connected with said lower compartment at one end and extendingat its other end into said upper compartment to charge steam thereintofor agitating the material therein and to mingle therewith, a dischargepipe leading from the upper compartment into said inclosure throughwhich the combined steam and vapor inds entrance into said inclosure,and a direct steam connection with said heating device upper compartmentfor supplying steam thereto independently of said steam coil.

In witness whereof we hereunto set our hands this 30th day of June, A.D. 1915.

I Witnesses FRANK G. DOLLIS, A. G. TALBOT.

by addressing the Commissioner of ratents,

